Helping seniors preserve health and financial security for themselves and their loved ones.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Social Security’s Website for Smartphones

Anxious to check on your Social Security benefits while you
are grocery shopping? You will be pleased to learn that the Social Security
Administration has created a special mobile website especially for your smartphone.

While you may not be checking on your retirement benefits
while you are out and about, your neighbors apparently are. Each year, more
than 35 million Social Security web page views come via smartphones. So, the
Social Security Administration has responded appropriately in creating a
website particularly designed for smartphone visitors.

Smartphones users are now automatically redirected to a mobile-friendly
site which is easier to navigate on a small screen. The mobile site uses different
colored tiles to direct users to different information centers.

According to a Social Security Administration Press Release, people
“visiting the agency’s website, www.socialsecurity.gov,
via smartphone (Android, Blackberry, iPhone, and Windows devices) will be
redirected to the agency’s new mobile-friendly site. Once there, visitors can
access a mobile version of Social Security’s Frequently Asked Questions, an
interactive Social Security number (SSN) decision tree to help people identify
documents needed for a new/replacement SSN card, and mobile publications which
they can listen to in both English and Spanish right on their phone.”

“With significant budget cuts of nearly a billion dollars
each year over the last few years, we must continue to leverage technology and
find more innovative ways to meet the evolving needs of the American public
without compromising service,” said Social Security Acting Commissioner Carolyn
Colvin when she introduced the website last May.

Of course you can also use your smartphone to contact Social
Security the old fashioned way. By calling 1-800-772-1213, you reach Social
Security’s automated telephone services where you get recorded information and can
conduct some business 24 hours a day. You can also speak to a human Social
Security representative between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. If you
are deaf or hard of hearing, you can call Social Security’s toll-free TTY
number, 1-800-325-0778, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Special Note to Elder Law Attorneys and other advocates: The
Social Security POMS are available to you on your smartphone. The POMS (Program
Operations Manual System) is a primary source of information used by Social
Security employees to process claims for Social Security benefits. Due to the
ties between SSI and Medicaid the POMS can be relevant and helpful in Medicaid eligibility
decisions as well. To locate the POMS on your phone just google
“SocialSecurity.gov POMS” or type in or click on the following link:https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/.

Follow me on Twitter

Super Lawyers

AVVO

PAELA

About Me

I am a Pennsylvania lawyer with over 35 years experience in estate planning and elder law. I was selected by US News Best Lawyers® as its Lawyer of the Year in Elder Law for 2014 for the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania metropolitan region.
I am of counsel to Marshall, Parker and Weber, a law firm which has offices in Williamsport, Jersey Shore, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, Pennsylvania. I am past President and a founder of PAELA (the Pennsylvania Association of Elder Law Attorneys). However, the views expressed on this site are my own and not those of PAELA or of Marshall, Parker and Weber.
Most importantly I am a husband, father and grandfather.